Tales of Soldiers and Civilians

by Ambrose Bierce

Overview

Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of short stories written by Ambrose Bierce. Published in 1891, the 26 stories detail the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. His famous story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is included in this collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633841710
Publisher:	Wilder Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	06/10/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
File size:	304 KB

About the Author

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) was a short story writer and journalist whose work spanned multiple genres including satire, fantasy, horror and science fiction. Born into a large but poor family, Bierce left home to work at a newspaper before enlisting in the military. He served in the Union Army, engaging in many battles that would inspire his future works. Once discharged, Bierce began a literary career writing and editing various magazines. He went on to publish multiple books including a collection of poems and the immensely popular Tales of Soldiers and Civilians.

Read an Excerpt

A WATCHER BY THE DEAD. TN an upper room of an unoccupied dwelling in that part of San Francisco known as North Beach lay the body of a man under a sheet. The hour was near nine in the evening; the room was dimly lighted by a single candle. Although the weather was warm, the two windows, contrary to the custom which gives the dead plenty of air, were closed and the blinds drawn down. The furniture of the room consisted of but three pieces, an arm-chair, a small reading stand, supporting the candle, and a long kitchen table, supporting the body of the man. All these, as also the corpse, would seem to have been recently brought in, for an observer, had there been one, would have seen that all were free from dust, whereas everything else in the room was pretty thickly coated with it, and there were cobwebs in the angles of the walls. Under the sheet the outlines of the bodycould be traced, even the features, these having that unnaturally sharp definition which seems to belong to faces of the dead, but is really characteristic of those only that have been wasted by disease. From the silence of the room one would rightly have inferred that it was not in the front of the house, facing a street. It really faced nothing but a high breast of rock, the rear of the building being set' into a hill. As a neighboring church clock was striking nine with an indolence which seemed to imply such an indifference to the flight of time that one could hardly help wondering why it took the trouble to strike at all, the single door of the room was opened and a man entered, advancing toward the body. As he did so the door closed, apparently of its own volition; there was a grating, as of a key turned withdifficulty, and the snap of the lock bolt as it shot into its socket. A sound of retiring foo...